Tag: equal members in the body of Christ

In the Epistle of Colossians, we can discover the completeness that God has given to us through all that Jesus Christ accomplished.

We have been made spiritually complete so that we walk with God as we enjoy His presence in our lives. Colossians helps correct wrong practices that people sometimes fall into and shows the way back to right believing in the spiritual power that God has given to every believer in Christ.

Colossians 1:27-28:
-27: To whom {believers} God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
-28: Whom {Jesus Christ} we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Noting what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:4 is interesting: “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” The mystery in a nutshell is that the Jews and Gentiles who believe today become equal members in the body of Christ. Paul wrote that by reading we may understand this mystery of the one body.

Whereas in Colossians 1:27 we have the next spiritual step, for it continues on and connects us to the spiritual side of life because God Himself reveals the riches of the mystery, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

What it really is to have Christ in you is not my job to explain, nor is it anyone else’s, because only God can reveal to the heart of our understanding what it is to actually have Christ in us, what it means to our lives, and what the riches of the glory of the mystery is, and it is all based upon God making it known to us.

Paul then goes on to say that he preaches Jesus Christ. Why? Because as the preached Word of God reveals Jesus Christ, Christ then reveals his heavenly Father to us, and as the Father becomes known, He then reveals to our lives the greatness of the mystery and the riches of the mystery, showing us individually that we absolutely have completeness because we have received Christ within.

The word “warning” in verse 28 above does not have anything to do with impending danger of any kind, but rather it means to admonish, exhort, and to prepare one to receive something quite wonderful. Paul in his teaching ministry as an Apostle prepared believers with the teaching of the mystery of the one body of Christ so that each member would be able to become more intimately acquainted with their heavenly Father Who would then reveal the riches of having Christ within.

Paul’s masterful teaching presented God’s heart so that God could begin revealing that in Christ Jesus we have a heavenly standing in God’s household. Then God Himself could further reveal the dynamic realities of walking daily with the spirit of Christ within.

Colossians 2:10 reads “ye are complete in him.” We are spiritually completely, completely, complete in Jesus Christ, and it is God Who will show to the heart of our understanding this spiritual reality.

The preached Word always reveals Jesus Christ who is the living and incarnate Word, and the living Word always reveals God Who is the source of the Word. As we come to experience the learning process that it is our heavenly Father Who reveals to our understanding the “riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you,” then we will know without any doubt that we have been taught of God (I Corinthians 2:7-14).

“It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard {what God teaches}, and hath learned {to the point of believing} of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). “Cometh unto me” represents coming to know with godly insights the spiritual riches of having “Christ in you.”

Colossians 2:6-7:
-6: As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
-7: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught {by the preached Word, by knowing Christ, and by hearing God’s still small voice}, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

As we become more rooted and spiritually built up in Christ, we will become established in the faith, and this will effortlessly cause our lives to abound with thanksgiving to God Who is the source and giver of the riches of Christ within.

God gives us Our Completeness, allowing us to have fellowship with Jesus Christ and inspiring our fellowship with one another, so we may abound daily in thankfulness.